Campbell, Sturgeon Awards Given
ernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky won the 2000 John W. Campbell Award for best SF novel, and David Marusek's "The Wedding Album" won the Theodore Sturgeon Award for best SF short story.
The awards were presented July 7 at the annual award dinner of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction in Lawrence, Kan.
At the same ceremony, living SF writers Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson were inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Theodore Sturgeon and Eric Frank Russell were inducted posthumously.
An international committee of judges selected the Campbell Award winner from nominations submitted by publishers. Greg Bear's Darwin's Radio placed second. Norman Spinrad's Greenhouse Summer placed third. Peter Watts's Starfish and Jack Williamson's The Silicon Dagger received honorable mentions.
James Gunn, Kij Johnson and Frederik Pohl selected the Sturgeon award winner, with assistance from Theodore's son Andros Sturgeon, from a list of finalists selected by a group of two dozen reviewers and editors of short science fiction. Eleanor Arnason's "Dapple: A Hwarhath Historical Romance" placed second. Judith Berman's "The Window" placed third.
Harrison: Dune Sequels Possible
ohn Harrison, writer and director of The SCI FI Channel's upcoming miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, said he envisions sequels to the six-hour movie.
"The short answers is 'yes,' but I can't be more detailed at the moment, because everything is in a very preliminary talking stage," Harrison said in a chat on SCIFI.COM. "I would love to see the series continue, because there are story points and clues and prophecies that are platformed in this miniseries that herald things to come in the Dune mythology."
The miniseries--scheduled to air in widescreen format for three nights starting Dec. 3--is based on Herbert's novel Dune, the first in the popular series of novels. "The miniseries is based only on the first book, and I designed it to reflect the three books within the first book," Harrison said. "So, Night One pretty much reflects the first part of Dune; Night Two, the second part; and Night Three, the third part."
Harrison added that he has material for a behind-the-scenes special about the making of Dune. "There will be [a special]," he said. "We have hours and hours of behind-the-scenes footage, which will be available at least on the DVD versions of the miniseries when they are released. In the meantime, I'm not sure what the network has planned. Discussions are ongoing. We have great interviews with the actors. We have great footage of the sets being designed and built, of the special F/X being created. We have some funny bloopers of outtakes, and hopefully that will be available in some format or another one day." He added that an international edition DVD is planned, with a U.S. release uncertain.
A fan of Herbert's work since he was a teen-age boy, Harrison said he strove to remain faithful to the novel. But he has made a few changes, such as beefing up the character of Princess Irulan. "I have enlarged her role from that which is in the book to make her a more significant player, but, I believe, totally consistent with her character as it plays out over the rest of the Dune novels. So, instead of simply being the narrator or the historian, I have taken Herbert's own descriptions and characterizations and extrapolated them into a character that is more visible in this version of Dune."
Harrison added, "I don't know whether you'd call it an enhancement, but one of the things I was determined to do was bring to life the cultural atmosphere of the Fremen seitch communities. And so I hope that the society of Fremen seitches is rich and provocative. I was guided by things Herbert said and described, and I elaborated upon them. Other characters are not what I would say "enhanced"--that is to say, they don't behave or do things that are not in the book--but as with any novel translated to the screen, there's a certain amount of interpretation that goes on, and so some characters may not be exactly what a particular reader might have in mind ... or, then again, they might. But the point is, I tried to be faithful to the essence of every character Herbert created, even if I had to make certain changes for narrative structure."
Grinch Previewed At Universal
niversal Studios converted a soundstage into Whoville to unveil its upcoming Jim Carrey movie Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
About 450 guests--exhibition, distribution and broadcast media partners from 52 countries--crowded in to watch 15 minutes of Grinch footage.
Carrey; cast members Molly Shannon, Christine Baranski and Jeffrey Tambor; and director Ron Howard attended the preview. The movie, a live-action adaptation of the popular Dr. Seuss book, opens on Nov. 17. Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service has agreed to send out every piece of mail during the holidays with a Grinch cancellation stamp, the trade paper reported.
More X-Men In Sequels?
-Men executive producer Tom DeSanto told the Comics Continuum Web site that he already has ideas for two sequels to the Fox film.
"When I started to structure the [first movie's] story in my head, by some natural accident, the other two just fit into place," DeSanto said. "I have two other ideas in my head, which we plant the seeds for in this film. If, God willing, Fox will have us back and the fans respond well."
DeSanto added that more of the X-Men--from the Marvel Comics series of the same name--will show up in subsequent movies, especially Beast and Gambit. "We have plans for them, which is the great thing," DeSanto said.
X-Men director Bryan Singer told the site, "There are many characters we'd like to have, from Nightcrawler to Proteus to Gambit. Some interesting characters. Some which might translate well to film, and some which might not as easily, and some that won't translate until technology advances another 20 years."
Hugh Jackman, who plays Wolverine, told the Continuum that he would return for a sequel. "I'd love to come back. All the cast and crew would love to re-visit these characters and work with each other again. I always think when you create a character that you really love and you respect--and I think all of us got to that point--it's a shame to put it away."
Berry Down For X-Men 2
alle Berry, who plays Storm in Fox's X-Men movie, told the Comics Continuum Web site that she will sign on to a sequel if one's made.
"If this film does well, I absolutely will do another," Berry said at the Ellis Island, N.Y., premiere of the movie.
Berry said her character, a mutant who can control the weather, is "a strong, powerful, sexy woman who's very in control of her special mutation. She's an Earth mother. She's the nurturer of the group."
James Marsden, who plays Cyclops, told the Continuum, "I remember the first day we were in our suits, the leather suits that were so restrictive and uncomfortable. And we had to hop over a ledge, and we thought we could just hop right over it. We just wrecked ourselves and tripped over the wall. Our suits were too tight. The entire crew was laughing. We were idiots. There's going to be a lovely outtake reel on this."
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter said X-Men will open the 53rd Locarno International Film Festival, which runs Aug. 2 to 12 in Switzerland, in what will also be the film's international premiere. X-Men is based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name.
Marvel's X-Men co-creator Stan Lee told the Fox 411 Web site that Fox has already committed to two sequels to X-Men. Patrick Stewart told the site that he's hoping his role as X-Men patriarch Prof. Charles Xavier helps him shed the typecasting he fears from having played Star Trek Capt. Jean-Luc Picard for so long. "Not from the fans, but from the industry," he said. "Maybe X-Men will help."
Regency Gets Daredevil
aredevil, the Marvel Comics series about a blind crime-fighting superhero, is headed for the big screen under a deal between Marvel and New Regency Pictures, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mark Steven Johnson (Simon Birch) is attached to direct.
Marvel reportedly failed to come to terms on a deal with Columbia Pictures to make the movie, the latest film epic based on a Marvel franchise. New Regency will finance the film, and Twentieth Century Fox will distribute, the trade paper reported.
Fox is also distributing X-Men, based on the Marvel series of the same name. Sony is developing a feature film based on Marvel's Spider-Man series.
King's Novel To Go Online
orrormeister Stephen King said on his official Web site that he will begin selling downloadable installments of his epistolary novel The Plant on July 24.
King will offer two of the 5,000- to 7,000-word installments for $1 each. Installment No. 2 goes live on the Web Aug. 21.
"Whether or not I publish more depends," King said. "In the words of The Turtles, 'You, baby, nobody but you.' If you pay, the story rolls. If you don't, the story folds." King is offering the book on the honor system: If 75 percent of the people who download the book pay him the $1, he'll continue to publish installments electronically, with No. 3 going up in September.
King also asks readers to pay for each download and to refrain from making copies for paid distribution. King adds that he doubts that his experiment in electronic publishing will spell the end of traditional publishing. "Good God, no. I love my editors, and I like my publisher," King wrote. "I also like books. I'm a conservative on this particular subject, and I love the smell of glue. But if I could break some trail for all the mid-list writers, literary writers and just plain marginalized writers who see a future outside the mainstream, that's great."
King made e-publishing history earlier this year, when his electronic novella "Riding the Bullet" was downloaded by more than 500,000 readers.
ADV Bringing Games To Film
DV Films said it will soon release several anime and live-action feature films based on video games in the United States.
In the coming months, ADV Films releases will include Wild Arms, based on the SONY Playstation role-playing game of the same name; Power Stone, based on the Capcom fighting game; and Arc the Lad, based on G-Craft Software's Playstation RPG.
ADV also said it would premiere Parasite Eve, a live-action movie based on the video game of the same name, on July 28 in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and other major cities. A DVD will follow soon afterwards.
ADV Films has already released Tekken and Sonic the Hedgehog on video and is currently producing the anime Sin the Movie, based on the popular PC game Sin.
Smits To Be In Episode II
immy Smits (NYPD Blue) will portray Sen. Bail Organa of Alderaan in Star Wars: Episode II, the official Star Wars Web site announced.
The casting of Smits as Organa--the man who eventually adopts infant Princess Leia--comes as a surprise, as Smits' representatives had earlier denied a rumor that the actor might appear in Episode II.
"I'd thought of Jimmy for the role before George Lucas had even confirmed the character's appearance," casting director Robin Gurland told the Star Wars site. "Then, completely independently, his agents let me know that he would love to be involved in a Star Wars project. It worked out great." Episode II is currently shooting in Australia.
The Coming Attractions Web site first reported the Smits casting rumor in June, which was followed by the denial from Smits' representatives in USA Today.
Will Walken Play Darth Bane?
hristopher Walken (Sleepy Hollow) may play an evil Sith Lord named Darth Bane in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II, according to a rumor on the Ain't It Cool News Web site.
The site said the news of Walken's casting would appear on the official Star Wars Web site in a few days.
Meanwhile, the Star Wars Web site released the first image from the Episode II production, now underway in Australia. It's not easy to tell what the image shows, and the site offers no information.
More Fett Rumors Abound
umors are circulating about the possible appearance of bounty hunter Boba Fett in Star Wars: Episode II.
The Coming Attractions Web site confirmed rumors on Aldera.net and the Episode X sites that New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison will play the father of the young Boba Fett.
Several young New Zealand actors were in the running to play 6-year-old Fett, but the role will reportedly go to Daniel Logan. The official Star Wars Web site has previously reported only that Logan will play a "mysterious boy."
Lee Officially In Episode II
he official Star Wars Web site confirmed reports that veteran British actor Christopher Lee will appear in Star Wars: Episode II in the role of a charismatic separatist.
The film is currently shooting in Australia for a summer 2002 release.
Lee told the Star Wars site that he's eager to be a part of Episode II. "They created a whole new era in the cinema," Lee said of the Star Wars films. "There's no question about that. The scale of imagination, and the scale of production and the impact that it had on the entire world, was a first. It created an impact in the cinema that was unique. This particular series of film will be a mythic saga on a vast scale." Lee added, "One of the things that George Lucas said to me was, 'We'll have a lot fun.' And that, believe me, is very good to hear."
Lee won his greatest fame playing Dracula and other roles in Hammer Films' horror movies of the 1960s and '70s, often starring with Star Wars actor Peter Cushing. More recently, Lee appeared in 1999's Sleepy Hollow, which also featured Ian McDiarmid (Episode I's Senator Palpatine) and Star Wars stunt coordinator Nick Gillard. Lee is also playing Saruman in the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.
Gillard Preps Jedi Fighters
tar Wars: Episode II stunt coordinator Nick Gillard told the official Star Wars Web site that he's devising individual fighting styles for each Jedi knight character.
That includes Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi and the grown-up Anakin Skywalker.
"Mace Windu's [Samuel L. Jackson] fighting abilities are second only to Yoda," Gillard said. "If he gets within range, there's no question ... you're dead." Gillard recently worked with Jackson on his most recent movie, Shaft. "Sam's a good friend, and he's such a fantastic presence. He arrived in Australia on Friday, but his first day is today. I'm anxious to see what he'll do."
About Anakin Skywalker, Gillard said, "Of course, he's the chosen one. The audience will want to see that manifest itself. There needs to be flashes of brilliance. He's more skilled than Obi-Wan. Anakin always attacks. He's better, and he knows it, which means he's brash on occasion." Hayden Christensen, who will play Anakin, has been in Sydney for about a month. "I've spent four weeks training with him," Gillard said. "He's fantastic. Not only is he a brilliant actor, but he has brilliant balance. He has all the ability, he's just so good. Hayden and Ewan [McGregor] will both be doing all of their own stunts and swordfighting." McGregor, who demonstrated Obi-Wan Kenobi's fighting skills in Episode I, quickly picked up his skills again, Gillard said.
Diablo II Tops Charts
iablo II and the Diablo II collector's edition took the No. 1 and 2 sales slots on PC Data's weekly sales chart, C|net reported.
The hotly anticipated fantasy game from Blizzard Entertainment was released last month after several years of development.
The standard version of Diablo II, which sells for an average price of $53, was the No. 1 selling game for the week of June 25 to July 1. The collector's edition, which features a DVD with computer-animated scenes
deleted from the game and sells for an average cost of $67, ranked No. 2.
Plissken Snakes Onto TV
irector John Carpenter will develop a syndicated television series based on Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell's character from Carpenter's Escape from New York and Escape From L.A. movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Carpenter, Russell and Carpenter's longtime producing partner, Debra Hill, will executive produce the series for Tribune Entertainment for the 2001 season, the trade reported.
Russell won't reprise his role in the series, which will also be called Escape from New York. The series will mark Carpenter's first television series. It will take place in the 21st century, after natural disasters have devastated the world. The U.S. president will hire Plissken as a roving agent for the United Nations, traveling to the Earth's surviving cities to help restore normality.
If the series succeeds, Hill told the Reporter that the team might consider a third movie based on the character. The feature would be titled Escape From Earth, she said.
Stamp: Planet 'Wildly' Over Budget
erence Stamp, who plays a professor on a mission to Mars in the upcoming movie Red Planet, told the Popcorn U.K. Web site that the movie cost more than expected.
"It went wildly over budget," Stamp told the site.
The problem may have been first-time director Antony Hoffman, Stamp said. "They assembled a very great crew for him, including this very distinguished [director of photography], but everything just seemed to take forever, and I kind of noticed it, because we were wearing these very uncomfortable suits. The production was actually flaccid, you know," Stamp said. "You'd get there ready for 8 a.m., and then at 5.30 p.m., they'd tell you they weren't going to get to you."
But Stamp added that doesn't mean the movie will be bad. "I think there's too much talent to be able to dismiss it," he said. "I haven't seen it; I can only tell you that when I was approached, and when I got the script, the original script was wonderful." Stamp also disputed rumors of on-set strife involving star Val Kilmer. "Val is Val, you know," Stamp said. "This is the second time I've worked with him, and I get on with him fine. He doesn't give me any trouble."
Red Planet stars Kilmer, Tom Sizemore and Carrie-Anne Moss. The movie was bumped to a Nov. 3 release from its original summer date in the wake of the box-office failure of Disney's similarly themed Mission to Mars.
Townsend Bites Into Lestat
rish-born actor Stuart Townsend (Wonderland) is in talks to star as the vampire Lestat in Queen of the Damned, the feature film adaptation of Anne Rice's novel of the same name, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Michael Rymer (In Too Deep) will direct the movie for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Productions.
Townsend would take over the role left open by the abrupt departure of Wes Bentley (American Beauty).The movie is scheduled to go before cameras at the end of September. Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni wrote the screenplay based on Rice's novel, the third in her Vampire Chronicles. The first novel, Interview with the Vampire, became a movie of the same name in 1994, with Tom Cruise as Lestat.
Time Back In The Family
irector Simon Wells--the great-grandson of classic SF author H.G. Wells--is in talks to helm a new feature-film version of Wells' SF novel The Time Machine, Variety reported.
The movie would be a co-production of DreamWorks and Warner Bros.
"It's getting the family hands back on the project," said Wells, who last directed the animated movie Prince of Egypt. The novel's movie rights passed out of the family decades ago. H.G. Wells died in 1946. "I missed meeting him by 15 years," Wells said. Wells will work on a draft of the script with John Logan (Gladiator). Filmmakers would like to begin shooting early next year.
The Time Machine, about a man who invents a machine that allows him to travel 800,000 years into the future, will be a big-budget movie with lots of digital effects. Director Brad Silberling (City of Angels) dropped out of the project a few months ago, Variety reported. The Time Machine was previously filmed by director George Pal in 1960 and formed the basis of Nicholas Meyer's Time After Time in 1979.
Marvel Wants Cruise
arvel Comics executive Avi Arad told Cinescape Online that he wants to persuade Tom Cruise to star in a new movie version of the Marvel series Captain America.
"First, we have to do the script, and then we will send it to him," Arad said.
Arad added, "We don't want to go with an unknown. Captain America is too visible a character. It's definitely going to be someone high-profile." Tom Cruise was once reportedly interested in playing the title character in the now-moribund film version of Marvel's Iron Man series.
Trek To Get Radical
tar Trek: Voyager executive producer Brannon Braga said the much-anticipated new Trek television series will represent a radical departure from previous series, Variety reported.
Braga and fellow Trek executive producer Rick Berman are still conceptualizing the new series, which will replace Voyager when it wraps its seven-year run at the end of next season.
"We want it to be Star Trek at its core, but we also want it to ... change the concept to a radical degree," Braga said. "It's not enough to plop another captain in a starship. Not to sound pretentious, but it's got to be something that takes Star Trek into the 21st century.''
Beltran Slams Voyager
obert Beltran, who plays Chakotay on UPN's Star Trek: Voyager, had harsh words about the series when he talked to fans during a tour of the United Kingdom, according to the Official Robert Beltran fan Web site.
"I don't mean to denigrate my work in Voyager, and I'm not saying anything that probably the rest of the cast wouldn't say either, but you know Star Trek is pretty much a formula show, and the episodes that we've seen on Voyager are pretty much variations of the same episodes from Deep Space Nine or The Next Generation."
Beltran had particularly harsh words for the writers of the recent episode that brought back Jennifer Lien's character, Kes. "What they asked her to do with her character, I didn't understand. I think our writers are that far from brain damaged. I don't get them. But we were happy to have her. She's great. We love Jennifer. I wish she had never left the show; she's a really fine actress. But it was just the same old indication of our writers and producers having their head firmly up their collective ass. Sorry, kids. You see, this will all get back to them. That's why I'm saying it. That's fine. Maybe they'll let me go by the middle of the season. I'll be a regular on ER or something."
Beltran added, "I think the Star Trek franchise has sort of run its course. It's peaked, and it can only go down now. Then hopefully it will peak again. But their spin about the show is that Seven-of-Nine saved the show. But the numbers don't bear that out at all. I wouldn't say I had a bitter taste about the show, but it makes me a lot less caring about the show when the writers don't seem to care about all the cast. When that happens, I check out right away and give as little as possible emotional involvement as I can. So I would have to say, honestly, that for probably the last two or two and a half years, I haven't quite read a full Voyager script. It's not necessary, because I already know what's going to happen. I don't want to put myself to the aggravation."
Hales To Pen Mummy III
onathan Hales, currently working with George Lucas on the script for Star Wars: Episode II, will write the third installment of The Mummy movie franchise, Variety reported.
Entitled The Scorpion King, the film will reportedly be a prequel to 1999's surprise hit The Mummy.
The second movie in the series, The Mummy Returns, is currently in production for a release in May 2001. The Scorpion King has not been approved by a studio yet. Pro wrestler The Rock will play the Scorpion King character in The Mummy Returns. It's not clear whether he would reprise the role in the third movie.
Cameron Shelves Mars
irector James Cameron told the New York Post that he has shelved plans to adapt Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy of novels as a miniseries for Fox.
"These books would not be well served in television, and the story was too big a meal for a feature film," Cameron told the newspaper.
But Cameron is busy at work on the pilot for his Fox SF TV series Dark Angel, which premieres in the fall. The Post reported that Cameron will spend about $8 million to shoot the futuristic two-hour pilot, which stars Jessica Alba as Max, a genetically enhanced warrior.
"To me this is kind of like going back to my roots," Cameron said. "I came from low-budget, guerrilla filmmaking. We would shoot a whole 90-minute picture in three weeks for practically no budget. TV is a little like that, except that the writing is much better."
Alba's Max is supersmart and superstrong, has a high tolerance for pain, heat and cold, and fights corruption in a post-apocalyptic America, the Post reported. "We want the audience to get the sense that Max does have vulnerabilities," Cameron said. "We want to show that she's smarter, faster and can see in the dark, but it's important to convey that ... Max can get the flu, have a cold and have a bad day."
SCI FI To Air B5 In Widescreen
hen The SCI FI Channel begins airing Babylon 5 this fall, it will show the series in a never-before-seen letterbox format.
B5 begins its SCI FI run on Sept. 25 and will run Monday through Friday at 7 p.m.
Prior to the series premiere on SCI FI, the network's new series Sciography, which looks at SF&F entertainment, will devote an episode to the behind-the-scenes story of Babylon 5. The Babylon 5 episode of Sciography will air on Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
The hour-long episode will feature interviews with cast and crew and offer insight into the drama behind the cameras, including the expulsion of Babylon 5's main star after the first season; threats by cast members to walk off; on-set accidents; and the struggle to find a syndicator to air the show's fifth season. SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
SCI FI Buys Scorpion
he SCI FI Channel has bought the rights to 22 episodes of Black Scorpion, a new SF action series from Roger Corman's New Concorde company.
Scorpion, which stars former Miss Kansas Michelle Lintel as a crime-fighting superhero, will air during the first quarter of 2001.
Lintel plays Darcy Walker, a second-generation cop whose father is murdered at the hands of the evil Breathtaker (Adam West). Darcy chooses to avenge his death by becoming the Black Scorpion, a leather-clad superhero with an array of high-tech weapons and a Black Scorpionmobile. The series will also feature 17 Playboy playmates and Penthouse Pets, including
Playmate of the Year Victoria Silvstedt as the villain, Hourglass.
SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Special Farscape Arc Coming
he SCI FI Channel original series Farscape will begin a three-episode arc, "Look at the Princess," that will unveil the secrets of Scorpius' heritage and Moya's builders.
The "Princess" story arc will begin July 21 at 9 p.m. ET.
"Look at the Princess" will find Crichton, Aeryn, Rygel, D'Argo and Chiana on a planet that is about to crown its new monarch. But Princess Katralla must find a mate genetically compatible with her own poisoned DNA. It turns out that Crichton is the man.
At the same time, Scorpius' warship arrives in orbit around the planet, forcing Zhaan to flee in Moya. She finds herself in greater peril when she encounters Moya's builders--god-like creatures with the power of life and death over their creations.
SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
SCI FI Builds TV Lab
he SCI FI Channel said it is in the final stages of building a secret programming laboratory in Los Angeles to generate cutting-edge alternative programming for the cable network.
The lab, headed by former SCI FI marketing executive Josh Greenberg, will operate separately from the network's programming division.
The new facility features avant-garde design and will open in August. A team headed by Greenberg will develop fully owned programming ideas for SCI FI, bolstered by a rotating team of creative consultants brought in to work on specific projects, the network said.
SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
SCI FI Unveils New World
he SCI FI Channel will launch daily mini-marathons featuring back-to-back episodes of classic SF shows, starting July 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The S.C.I.F.I. World promotion will theme each day to one of the letters in "SCI FI."
The shows will be interspersed with new graphic teasers, animated shorts and on-air questions. The complete schedule follows.
•Superheroland Mondays will kick off with a day's worth of The Six Million Dollar Man, followed by mini-marathons of The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, RoboCop: The Series, Swamp Thing and Automan.
•Creatureland Tuesdays begin with a mini-marathon of The Incredible Hulk, followed in subsequent weeks by Star Trek, Land of the Giants, SeaQuest DSV, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Manimal, Lost in Space, Earth 2 and Alien Nation.
•Intergalacticland Wednesdays start with Battlestar Galactica, followed by Star Trek, Space: Above and Beyond, Lost in Space and The Ray Bradbury Theatre.
•Fantasticland Thursdays will start off with Quantum Leap, followed by Highlander, The Twilight Zone, Land of the Giants, The Time Tunnel, Probe, Otherworld, Darkroom, The Ray Bradbury Theatre, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Sliders, Beyond Reality and Night Gallery.
•Inhumanland Fridays will begin with Manimal, followed by Alien Nation, Earth 2, SeaQuest DSV, Gemini Man, The Invisible Man, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Visitor and Dark Skies.
SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
SCI FI Orders More I-Man
he SCI FI Channel has ordered another nine episodes of its new hit series The Invisible Man, which has drawn the network's largest audiences ever.
The weekly series, which is currently in production in San Diego, also airs in syndication.
Created by Matt Greenberg (Halloween: H2O), The Invisible Man stars Vincent Ventresca as Darien, a small-time thief who is drafted into secret government experiments on invisibility.
The Invisible Man airs Fridays at 8 p.m. SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Jillette To Look At FI SCI
he SCI FI Channel will begin production this month on Fi-Sci with Penn Jillette: The Fiction-Science Show, a series of four one-hour specials featuring the comic magician.
Jillette will take a tongue-in-cheek look at the science behind the fiction of several classic SF television shows and movies.
In the first special, Jillette will travel to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to ask about the possibility of a computer like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Next, Jillette will talk to NASA about the feasibility of long-term space travel, as depicted in the 1968 classic movie.
In other shows, Penn will talk to evolutionary scientists about the possibility of a real-life Planet of the Apes; examine with geneticists the reality of cloning as seen in Jurassic Park and The Boys from Brazil; and discuss the science behind volcano and asteroid disasters.
SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Smith To Host Lucas Tribute
irector Kevin Smith (Dogma) will host an episode of The SCI FI Channel's short-film showcase, Exposure, focusing on George Lucas and the Star Wars phenomenon.
The episode will air Aug. 23 at 10 p.m. ET.
Smith will host the show from his Red Bank, N.J., comic book store and will introduce the world television premiere of Lucas' short film Freiheit. Smith will also talk about Lucas' influence on filmmakers, including Joe Nussbaum, whose parody film, George Lucas in Love, became an Internet hit.
The Lucas Exposure episode will also feature the television premieres of Steve Dooher's Searching for Carrie Fisher and Chris Moeller's Star Wars spoof, Tripping the Rift.
SCI FI is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Night Mum On Unbreakable
nbreakable director M. Night Shyamalan told USA Today that he won't say much about his upcoming thriller movie.
A new teaser trailer suggests only that star Bruce Willis plays a man who miraculously survives a train crash without a scratch. Samuel L. Jackson and Robin Wright Penn also star.
In the wake of Shyamalan's blockbuster hit The Sixth Sense, "We're in a fun position, in that audiences, we think, will at least be interested in coming to the movie without us telling them the whole movie, and when they get in the theater, they'll experience surprise and excitement," Shyamalan said. He added that his new film "continues a kind of eerie, otherworldly, not ghost but a supernatural thing."
Shyamalan, 29, added that the pressure to follow up Sixth Sense comes "more from myself, not outside. It's what I expect from the movie artistically, and how it's received by audiences. The nervousness comes because we took a ton of chances in the filmmaking style. That's the only way to do it. You can't play it safe. Now I feel when I see [it], it's very artistic, but obviously also a very big commercial movie."
Bell Up For Potter?
he Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that British actor Jamie Bell (Dancer) is the front-runner to play the title role in the upcoming movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
The site added that British rugby player Martin Bayfieldis was a possible contender for the role of Hagrid, Harry's giant friend.
The latter bit of news contradicts a report in Variety that British actor Robbie Coltrane was in talks to play Hagrid in the Chris Columbus film, which is based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling children's novel of the same name. As for the casting of Harry, the film's casting director recently quit after failing to find a young actor who met with director Columbus' approval, despite auditioning hundreds of aspirants.
Sakura Film, Series Due
roduction I.G. will develop the Sakura Wars original video anime (OVA) series into a Japanese feature film and television series, I.G. president and chief executive Mitsuhisa Ishikawa announced.
Production I.G. is best known for producing Nadesico, the Evangelion films and Blood.
The new Sakura Wars TV series began airing on Japanese television in the spring. The movie, co-produced with King Record and Star Child, is still in production and won't hit theaters until 2001, Ishikawa said.
Originally a Sega video game, Sakura Wars became an OVA series that ADV Films released in the United States. The series' success in Japan and international markets led to a second OVA series.
Coffin Explores Blair Myth
owan Atalla, art director of the upcoming game Blair Witch Volume 2: The Legend of Coffin Rock, told the FGN Web site that the game is scheduled to ship around Halloween.
The release would coincide with that of the movie Blair Witch 2: The Book of Shadows, the sequel to 1999's The Blair Witch Project. The game is the second of three Blair Witch PC games from Gathering of Developers and HumanHead/Epic Games.
In the game, "players explore this series of events in 1886 and try to uncover what exactly is happening in the woods, and why Robin Weaver disappeared," Atalla told FGN. "Volume 2 takes place 60 years before the first game. Volume 1 is set in the 1940s, which fans of the movie will recall is the time of the Rustin Parr killings. Volume 2 focuses on another episode in the BW mythology, which is the disappearance of a little girl named Robin Weaver in 1886. A search party set out to find the little girl, and although Robin Weaver reappeared mysteriously a few days later, the search party was never heard from again."
Atalla added, "A second group was sent out, and they stumbled across a very grisly scene atop Coffin Rock. They saw the members of the first search party bound together in a pattern, disemboweled, with ritual symbols carved into their flesh. When they returned with more people to remove the bodies, they had all vanished, leaving no trace except for the lingering smell of death."
Arnold To Face Female Cyborg
rnold Schwarzenegger's nemesis in the upcoming Terminator 3 may be female, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.
The plot of T3, the next installment in the Terminator film franchise, will pit Schwarzenegger's android against a next-generation Terminator cyborg, the trade paper reported.
Filmmakers Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna, meanwhile, are reportedly looking for a director now that Terminator creator James Cameron has said he's not interested in helming the sequel. Entertainment Weekly reported that Cameron would pass; Variety reported that Cameron hasn't spoken with Kassar or Vajna in more than a year.
Schwarzenegger must approve the new director. The Reporter said the short list of contenders includes Ridley Scott (Gladiator), David Fincher (Fight Club), Roland Emmerich (The Patriot) and Christian Duguay (TV's Joan of Arc miniseries). T3 is slated to go before the cameras in the spring of 2001.
Robards To Star In A.I.
ariety confirmed a rumor that Sam Robards will join Jude Law, Haley Joel Osment and Frances O'Connor in Steven Spielberg's SF thriller A.I.
Robards will play O'Connor's husband and Osment's father in the movie, which is based on a treatment by the late Stanley Kubrick. The film is slated to begin filming this fall for a summer 2001 release.
A.I. takes place in a future after the polar icecaps have melted, flooding New York. The movie is also based on a 1969 short story by Brian Aldiss, "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long."
Warren In Visitor Talks
wimsuit model Estella Warren is in final talks to co-star with Mark Wahlberg in Tim Burton's The Visitor, a remake of the 1968 movie Planet of the Apes, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
The movie is slated to go before the cameras in October for a July 4, 2001, release.
Variety reported that Warren would play Wahlberg's love interest in the movie, which is described as a "reimagining" of the original Apes. Bill Broyles is writing the screenplay. The story will differ from the original in that Wahlberg will play a pilot instead of an astronaut, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fox Preps WW III
imothy Hutton and Vanessa Williams will star in the Fox television movie World War III, Variety reported.
The movie, based on a New Yorker article by Richard Preston, goes before cameras this month in Montreal, the paper reported.
Hutton will play an FBI agent who investigates the outbreak of a mysterious viral disease. Williams plays a biohazard expert who tries to stop the outbreak. Bob Mandel will direct World War III based on a script by Daniel Taplitz. Marin Hinkle (Once and Again) and Lane Smith (From the Earth to the Moon) also star.
Buffy Loses Composer
mmy Award-winning composer Christophe Beck told fans on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer official posting board that he will be leaving The WB hit series next season.
"I've decided that it's time to pursue my dream of becoming a big famous superstar movie composer, and I'm leaving Buffy," Beck said. "It was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made, but it's made, and I feel it's the right one, at least for me in the long term." Beck recently completed the score for the upcoming cheerleader movie Bring It On, which stars Buffy alumna Eliza Dushku (Faith).
Beck added that Sony will be issuing a CD of Beck's score music from Buffy in spring 2001 and a second compilation of songs from the show in time for Christmas this year. Beck won an Emmy for his Buffy scores in 1998. Beck has also composed music for the Buffy spinoff series, Angel, and for F/X: The Series.
Hutton Stars In Ear Play
imothy Hutton will star in The Lucky Strike, an original audio drama by SF author Kim Stanley Robinson, premiering July 21 on SCIFI.COM's
Seeing Ear Theatre.
Oscar-winner Hutton will play Capt. Frank January in an alternate-history story about the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The drama is based on Robinson's short story of the same name.
"We all go through life asking, 'What if?'" said Brian Smith, SET's executive producer and director. "Kim Stanley Robinson has created an incredibly effective alternate history of such a pivotal point in World War II, and ultimately world history, that we now know the answer to 'what if?' A writer of Robinson's skill and imagination compels us all to dig deeper to fully comprehend the impact of each and every action taken--or, in some cases, those actions not taken."
Shannara E-Story Offered
erry Brooks, author of the Shannara series of fantasy novels, will offer a new short story exclusively to e-mail subscribers at the official Shannara Web site on Oct. 6.
Release of the e-story will follow the September debut of Brooks' next hardcover novel, The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch.
The stand-alone short story will feature a classic Shannara character in a new adventure.
Flint Slated For VHS
lint the Time Detective, the popular animated Fox Kids Network series, comes to home video in October.
ADV Films will distribute the SF children's series for The Right Stuf International Inc.
Flint will debut in a series of 90-minute VHS cassettes, with a suggested retail price of $14.98 each. Flint tells the story of a superhuman investigator in the 25th century who solves crimes against the timeline.
Lathe Comes To Video
he Lathe of Heaven, the legendary 1980 PBS television movie based on Ursula K. LeGuin's novel of the same name, will come to VHS and DVD in special editions Aug. 29.
The release marks the first time Lathe has been available on home video.
The DVD will feature a rare, in-depth interview with LeGuin by Bill Moyers. Lathe, which stars Bruce Davison (X-Men), tells the story of George Orr, whose dreams have the power to reshape reality. Several PBS stations recently rebroadcast the movie, which has rarely screened in the 20 years since it first aired.
Buffy Pal Dawn Cast
ichelle Trachtenberg (Harriet the Spy) has won the role of Dawn, Buffy's young psychic pal, in The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Variety reported.
Trachtenberg's character will debut in the series' fifth season, which begins production this month.
Dawn will reportedly develop a sisterly relationship with Buffy, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, and develop a crush on Buffy's buddy, Xander, played by Nicholas Brendon. Trachtenberg, 14, appeared with Matthew Broderick in Disney's 1999 hit Inspector Gadget.
Malone Wins Role In Darko
ena Malone (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) will co-star with Jake Gyllenhaal in the fantasy thriller movie Donnie Darko, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Malone will play Gyllenhaal's love interest.
The movie, from first-time writer-director Richard Kelly and executive producer Drew Barrymore, tells the story of a disturbed teenager and combines elements of fantasy and science fiction with a teen-age romance.
Newcomer Alex Greenwald (lead singer of the rock band Phantom Planet) will play Gyllenhaal's antagonistic and abusive schoolmate. Noah Wyle (ER) and Barrymore will play teachers.
Discovery To Air Beasts
he Discovery Channel and the BBC will create Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, a miniseries sequel to its successful Walking with Dinosaurs documentary, Variety reported.
Dinosaurs drew an average audience of 10.7 million viewers when it aired on April 16, making it the most-watched non-sports cable program during the 1999-2000 season, the trade paper reported.
Discovery will also air a 90-minute companion special to Beasts, focusing on the science behind the miniseries. Both will air in 2001, the cable network said at the Television Critics Association tour in Pasadena, Calif.
Fox Family, IFC To Air Horror
ox Family Channel and the Independent Film Channel will air Halloween specials this fall, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Fox Family will film a real family inside a "haunted house" for 48 hours for The Scariest Places on Earth, a series of reality-based specials scheduled to air during Fox's "13 Days of Halloween."
The last hour of the five-night special will be shot live from a haunted house in Atchinson, Kan., where a family fled in terror five years ago after the father said he was continuously tortured by the ghost of a small girl. The man will return to the house to see if the ghost shows up again, the trade paper reported.
The IFC, meanwhile, will premiere The American Nightmare on Friday the 13th (of October) at 10 p.m. The original documentary, directed by Adam Simon, will look at horror movies from the 1970s and the work of directors Wes Craven, George Romero, Tobe Hooper, Tom Savini and David Cronenberg. The IFC will also air Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; Romero's Dawn of the Dead, Martin and Night of the Living Dead; Cronenberg's The Brood and Rabid; Craven's The Hills Have Eyes and Last House on the Left; and Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator.
Sorbo Changes For Andromeda
evin Sorbo, star of the upcoming syndicated TV series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda, told the New York Daily News that he welcomes the chance to put Hercules: The Legendary Journeys behind him.
Speaking during the annual television critics' preview in Pasadena, Calif., Sorbo said, "It's a whole new galaxy for me. Hercules just got to save the world. This guy gets to save the universe."
Sorbo plays Capt. Dylan Hunt, commander of the starship Andromeda, who awakes from a 300-year sleep into a universe that has plunged into a dark age. Sorbo said he's signed on for two years of the SF series, which is based on an idea by late Star Trek creator Roddenberry. "It would be silly not to go for this, because I think this is going to be the same [as], but completely different from, other futuristic shows that have been done before, and that are out there currently," he said.
Sorbo added, "I'm hoping the Hercules audience follows us over here, and I'm hoping the Star Trek and Gene Roddenberry fans follow us over here as well. If that happens we have a hit--I don't see how this thing can miss." Andromeda premieres in the fall.
Scott: Deckard Is A Replicant
lade Runner director Ridley Scott cleared up one of the 1982 film's enduring mysteries in an interview with the BBC: He confirmed that Harrison Ford's hero, Deckard, is indeed a replicant, or android.
The question has been the subject of debate among film aficionados since the 1992 release of Scott's director's cut of the film, which features an ambiguous sequence in which Deckard dreams of a unicorn.
"He's a replicant," Scott told the BBC as part of Channel 4's documentary, On the Edge of Blade Runner. Scott said the unicorn dream is the clue. At the end of the movie, the character of Gaff (played by Edward James Olmos) leaves an origami unicorn at Deckard's door. That suggested that Gaff knew about Deckard's dream, a sign that the dream was implanted and artificial.
Scott added that another clue is the number of replicants mentioned in the movie. Six made their way to Earth, one of whom was killed, the BBC reported. Deckard is looking for four. That leaves open the question: Who's the fifth? Blade Runner is based on the Philip K. Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Young Knew About Replicant
n the heels of director Ridley Scott's admission that Blade Runner hero Deckard was a replicant, co-star Sean Young told Hollywood.com that it wasn't news to her.
"We knew about [it] all along," she said. "That was supposed to be the original idea, but they didn't cut it that way because the studio said that we couldn't have the hero not being human."
Young played Rachael, Deckard's replicant love interest, in the 1982 SF classic film. "[Scott] wanted Deckard to be a replicant that didn't know he was a replicant, but it got nixed cause the studio guys said the hero's got to be human," Young said. "The director's cut [re-released in 1992 with additional footage] was [Scott's] original vision, but there were things that prevented him from releasing that version [in 1982]."
Bradstreet Talks Blade Link
im Bradstreet, a conceptual designer for the upcoming movie sequel Blade 2, told the SFX Web site that he will design the film's villains.
"My responsibilities will involve designing the look for the vampires in the film," Bradstreet said.
Bradstreet will work on the sequel to 1998's Blade, which was based on the Marvel Comics series Blade the Vampire Hunter. Blade writer David S. Goyer will write the script. Guillermo del Toro (Mimic) will direct. Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson will reprise their roles from the first film.
Bradstreet said he met del Toro at DragonCon. "We met in Atlanta several years back, when he was doing promotion for Mimic and I was a guest at DragonCon the same weekend. He came over from his interviewing and signing at Planet Hollywood when he heard I was in town--very flattering. Being a huge fan of his film Cronos, I was rather blown away by his visit. We discovered that we were mutual admirers, and we started a fast friendship. We're about the same age, and we share a lot in common: favorite artists, movies, etc. We talk on the phone occasionally, and I just visited him at his home in Austin last October. I was able to trade him a piece of artwork for one of the props from Cronos (one of the little insect egg things with the needle armature)."
Nikita Back As TV Movie?
eta Wilson, star of USA Network's canceled series La Femme Nikita, told the Chicago Sun-Times that the show could return as a TV movie.
"There's talk of me doing a La Femme Nikita TV movie, but I really don't know," she told Sun-Times TV critic Phil Rosenthal.
Wilson added, "They haven't destroyed the sets on La Femme Nikita yet." As for the show's future as a series, she said, "We don't know what's going to happen next [any more than] you do. Things change."
USA canceled the popular series, which is currently winding up its last season, because of a contract dispute with the show's producer, Warner Bros. "[It] was purely a political thing between the network and the studio," Wilson said. "It really had nothing to do with us, the cast or the fans. It wasn't personal." USA is owned by USA Networks, which also owns SCIFI.COM.
Critics Like Buffy
he nation's television critics picked The WB's hit series Buffy the Vampire Slayer as one of the best shows on TV, according to a poll published in Electronic Media, a trade publication.
Buffy ranked No. 4 in the semi-annual poll of critics from 57 daily U.S. newspapers.
The critics also picked ABC's Arabian Nights and CBS's Jesus as being among the best miniseries, movies and specials. But NBC's The 10th Kingdom and Leprechauns ranked among the worst miniseries on television.
Patriot Partners Attack Arac
inescape Online reported that filmmaking partners Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich (The Patriot) will return to SF with Arac Attack, a giant spider movie.
The low-budget film will tell the story of a small Nevada town visited by a large arachnid.
Devlin told the site that he and Emmerich were inspired by the 1955 horror classic Tarantula. The movie will shoot in Australia.
Potter Goblet On Fire
arry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth volume in J.K. Rowling's best-selling series of children's novels, flew off bookshelves in its debut on July 8, according to the wire news services.
Advance orders from two Internet booksellers amounted to more than 700,000, making it the biggest-selling online book in history, the Associated Press reported.
Amazon.com reportedly delivered a quarter-million of the books on Saturday alone. More than 5 million copies have been printed in the United States and Britain, reportedly the biggest first run in history.
In reaction to the popularity of the Potter series, The New York Times Book Review said last week that it would create a separate best-seller list for children's books on July 23.
Kid Bows At No. 4
isney's The Kid, a fantasy comedy starring Bruce Willis, opened at No. 4 in the box-office rankings, earning $12.5 million for the weekend of July 7, according to the Hollywood trade papers.
The film tells the story of a workaholic image consultant who encounters his childhood self.
Chicken Run held strong, slipping two places to No. 5, with $9.5 million for the weekend. That brought its 19-day total to $63.3 million. But The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle faded fast, dropping to No. 9 after only a week of release, with $4 million for the weekend and $16.1 million total.
Last week, Mission: Impossible 2 became the first film of 2000 to pass the $200 million mark. The movie has earned $204 million after 47 days of release.
Briefly Noted
-
Fans lobbying to resurrect ABC's long-canceled SF series Prey took out an advertisement in the June 22 Variety, the day before a fan convention. The fans, organized as Prey For Us, have also mailed hundreds of letters with keys to The SCI FI Channel, which currently runs Prey reruns.
-
The Dark Horizons Web site reported the rumor that New Line Cinema has approved production of the supernatural horror film Freddy vs. Jason, with production set to start Dec. 16 with for an October 2001 release date. The movie would pit Freddy Krueger of the Nightmare on Elm Street film series against Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th film series.
-
The Dark Horizons Web site also reported that Cylk Cozart (Conspiracy Theory) has joined the cast of Baby of the Family, a dramatic comedy film about a young girl with mystical powers in Georgia in the 1950s. Filming begins in the city of Macon, Ga., later this summer.
-
The Immortal, an upcoming syndicated SF TV series starring Lorenzo Lamas, has started production in Vancouver and will appear on stations representing more than 80 percent of the U.S. market, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show is described as a "darkly humorous" cross of The Matrix, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess.
-
Warner Bros. will release a digitally remastered and remixed version of William Friedkin's 1973 supernatural thriller, The Exorcist, on Sept. 22 in select cities, the studio announced. The Exorcist--The Version You've Never Seen will contain 11 minutes of previously unreleased footage and will open in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, Boston, Toronto and Washington.
-
Disney's Touchstone has opened a Web site for its upcoming supernatural thriller Unbreakable, from writer and director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense). The site features trailers and mythology from the movie, which stars Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. Unbreakable opens in November.
-
Game Spy has opened a Web site devoted to the newly released game Diablo II. The site features news, images, walkthroughs, contests, message boards, links and downloads.
-
Bruce Willis will receive the American Cinematheque Award at the film organization's 15th annual Moving Picture Ball in September, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The award will honor Willis for his body of work.
-
Danish toymaker LEGO has bought the rights from Warner Bros. to produce toys based on the upcoming feature film version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the best-selling children's novel by J.K. Rowling, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The deal also covers a Potter sequel. Toys are due just before the first movie opens in November 2001.
-
Star Wars: Episode I star Liam Neeson broke his pelvis and suffered other injuries in a motorcycle accident near his home in upstate New York, according to the Reuters news service.
Neeson crashed his 1989 Harley Davidson motorcycle when he struck a deer. Neeson was described as in good condition and resting comfortably.
-
The Others executive producer Glen Morgan told The 11th Hour Web site that the canceled NBC paranormal series is dead, despite comments from a SCI FI Channel executive that the cable network might be interested in reviving it. "New episodes won't air," Morgan said. "They're all dead! I take the same position as I did on Space: Above and Beyond. ... The show is over, so they're dead."
-
Disney and the Jim Henson Co. have optioned Helmstar, a fantasy movie pitch from sreenwriter Gavin Scott, Variety reported. The movie takes medieval figures like Vikings, mixes them with magic and sorcery and sets them in a new venue.
-
Writer Michael Turner told the Dark Horizons Web site that he's moving forward with the feature-film adaptation of his SF comic book series Fathom. "All contracts are signed," Turner said. "It is now just a matter of getting the production off the ground. ... Hopefully summer 2002 for release."
-
Majel Roddenberry told television critics that the upcoming syndicated SF series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda "has the flavor of Gene," Majel's late husband and creator of Star Trek, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Roddenberry didn't write scripts for Andromeda, which is based on notes he left behind.
-
Keith Campbell (Men in Black) will appear as a road warrior in Steven Spielberg's upcoming SF film A.I., Variety reported. Campbell worked as Tom Cruise's stunt double in Mission: Impossible 2.
-
Scarlett Choryat (UPN's upcoming Freedom) will join Judd Nelson and Lance Henriksen in the cast of the supernatural thriller movie The Lost Voyage, Variety reported.
-
The Dark Horizons Web site reported a rumor that Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman) may play a role in The Visitor, Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes. Reubens reportedly sat for a makeup lifecast with The Visitor's makeup specialist Rick Baker.
